Arda Kompendium

Gandalf

the Grey Pilgrim; Mithrandir; Olórin; one of the Istari

personistarigandalfmithrandirwizardmaia

Origin and Nature

Gandalf is the later name of the Maia Olórin, of whom the Valaquenta says he “dwelt in Lórien… loved the trees… and in the deep forests of the earth, and the children of the earth”. In the counsels of the Valar, Olórin — the wisest of the Istari, whose pity Nienna taught him — was chosen, against his own misgiving, to go as one of the five Istari to Middle-earth. He came as an old man in grey, bound like the others to the order’s rule: “to contradict Sauron, not to confront him” — to counsel and kindle, not to rule by power.

Names

  • Gandalf — “the Elf of the Wand” (Norse-influenced), the name given by Men.
  • Mithrandir — Sindarin, “the Grey Pilgrim”, the name of the Elves.
  • Tharkûn among the Dwarves; Incánus in the far South; and in the earliest design of the mythology, the wanderer whose hair and fire border on the heroic smith.

The Third Age

  • The long watch: For near two thousand years he wandered the West and North, helping the free peoples — the labouring of the White Council against Dol Guldur, the exposure of Sauron’s return, the attack on the Ring-wraiths’ lairs.
  • The touching point: He caught the threads of fate at the Shire — “the small things do matter” — guided the Quest of Erebor (through Bilbo, and the finding of the One Ring), and carried the Ring’s burden of counsel through the War of the Ring.
  • Keeper of Narya: Círdan, perceiving his vision, had given the Grey Pilgrim the Ring of Fire (Narya) at their first meeting — “for the kindling of hearts”.
  • The Fall and the Return: In the Mines of Moria, Gandalf fell with Durin’s Bane (the last Balrog) after a terrible duel upon the peak of Celebdil, and was slain; he was “sent back” — returned, greater — and came to the field as Gandalf the White, in the likeness and office of the fallen Saruman, to finish the war.
  • The end and the leaving: With the Ring destroyed, Gandalf the White rode at the shoulder of the last fellowship and, in the grey havens, took ship with the Ring-bearers into the West — “the Mithrandir… taken at last to the land he came from”.

Significance

Gandalf is the Istari archetype of the whole mythology: a Maia of Valinor who, unlike Sauron or Saruman, used humility instead of dominion, and whose two-age career (Olórin → Grey Pilgrim → White) is the answer the legendarium gives to the question of power. He ties the First Age (his origin with Irmo and Nienna) to the end of the Third.

Verknüpfte Seiten

OlórinThe IstariNiennaSarumanAragornSauronNaryaCírdanThrór's MapGlamdringThe Three RingsConcordance — A to ZDurin's BaneThe MearasThe Watcher in the WaterTrollsShadowfaxGwaihirWargsThe Siege of Minas TirithThe Five ArmiesThe Battle of the MorannonThe Ring-bearersThe Host of the WestThe Long-expected PartyThe Unexpected PartyThe Nameless ThingsThe Council of ElrondThe White CouncilHelm's DeepEdorasBag EndRhosgobelThe High PassThe Redhorn GateThe ShireDol GuldurOrthancMinas TirithIsengardThe Two TowersThe HobbitThe Fellowship of the RingThe Lord of the RingsThe Letters of J.R.R. TolkienThe Quest of EreborThe Hunt for the RingThe Treason of IsengardThe Return of the ShadowBarliman ButterburBeornErkenbrandFaramirDenethor IIÉomerThéodenBoromirThe Great GoblinRadagastThe Blue WizardsFrodoBilboSamwisePippinThorinGimliThráinLegolas
Werke: die Quellen sind seitenübergreifend die Bücher von J.R.R. und Christopher Tolkien (Silmarillion, Hobbit, Herr der Ringe, Unfinished Tales, History of Middle-earth, Nature of Middle-earth u. a.) — eigene Zusammenfassung. Siehe die Concordance und den README der Quelle für die Einzelbelege.
Nach oben ↑